Page:A hairdresser's experience in high life.djvu/54

56 crying and sniveling; while Mr. So-and-So was seen pitching finery into trunks without ceremony, and piling oaths up mountain high, by way of an accompaniment. But no wonder that crying, scolding and swearing should take the place of praying sometimes, with persons so suddenly and cruelly disappointed; for Saratoga swarms with delights for people who can afford to enjoy them. From dawn till midnight, it offers a continued round of pleasures. The walks to the springs in the early morning—the display of an elegant breakfast toilet upon the gallery or promenade—bowling in the forenoon—strolls to the Indian encampments, musical matinees, private concerts, lessons in the new dances in the ball-room, battledore upon the lawns and in the parlor, sherry cobblers, mint juleps and brandy smashes, groups for intellectual conversation, everywhere—then the dinner toilet preparations, the evening drives, excursions upon the lakes, moonlight flirtations and pleasant dreams—combine the excitements of a Saratoga day and night. No wonder the ladies flare up, when the losses of the husbands at the gaming table make it necessary to hustle them away, without warning, from such pleasant scenes.

Among the elegant ladies who visited Saratoga a few summers since, was Mrs. R., daughter of Lady R., of Toronto. She was eminently handsome, sang divinely, and was the first who ventured to wear the gipsy hat and feathers, which she did with a grace I have not since seen rivaled, though I have often seen it attempted; indeed it was amusing to witness the innumerable efforts made to imitate this lady's costume and style. Occasionally there might be seen some feeble